Indian Airlines flew 20% more passengers in November than in the previous month as the carriers were allowed to sell more tickets per flight and travellers felt more confident about flying amid the pandemic. As many as 6.35 million passengers travelled by air in November compared with 5.27 million in the preceding month, data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Friday showed. The number of passengers, however, declined 51% from a year earlier in November.
The government allowed airlines to sell seats up to 70% of an aircraft’s capacity on domestic flights during November, which was subsequently increased to 80% in early December, thus boosting travel. Scheduled international commercial flights, however, remain suspended at least till 31 December. The passenger load factor (PLF) of major scheduled commercial airlines was 66-77% in November, higher than the 61-74% reported in October, but way below the 77-92% recorded by airlines during the same period of 2019.PLF measures the capacity utilization of transport services, including airlines.During November, India’s largest airline IndiGo recorded a 53.9% market share and a 74% PLF. It carried 3.42 million passengers during the month.SpiceJet, with a market share of 13.2%, registered a 77.7% load factor, ferrying 840,000 passengers.
